General dog chat

[BiteyShark]

Anyone fancy a general dog chat thread?

BiteyDog is now almost 15 months old and it's about time we ditched the puppy survival thread for general chit chat but it's still nice to chat about our doggie dilemmas and days so if anyone wants to join me in wittering on saves BiteyDog having the listen to my incessant talking at him then welcome aboard.

How's all the dogs coping with the snow in the northern parts? I am sick of the rain and I guess fortunate enough that BiteyDog doesn't like it much either so apart from a 20 min ball run we are snuggled up in the house today.

[steppemum]

well, when steppedog had his cow pat bath last week, I did him outside.
3 buckets of warm water and a plastci jug, get hime wet, rub suds in all over then jugs of warm water to rinse.
I got 90% of the soap off and had him pretty much done, and then turned on the hose to do a final rinse, as I was sure there was still soap underneath.

The final rinse was a bit mean as it is cold, but it worked well, and all mess outside.

If I had to go inside, I think I would do walk ih shower rather than bath, as if he shook in the bathroom it would go over the whole room, whereas in the shower it would hit tiles and shower screen. Disadvantage is that I would need a shower straight after him- and all clothes in wash!

[Squirrel26]

I hose SquirrelDog down in the garden using the garden hose. I always feel quite mean, as his BFF gets carried through his house to the shower, then is blow dried and has special paw butter applied. Not quite mean enough to actually allow him in my bath though.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

My prayers to the veterinary gods have been answered - £43 for vaccinations, £28 for 6 months Advocate, no separate consultation fee and contrary to what I thought no patella luxation

[BiteyShark]

Avocados good news from the vets, bet you are relieved about him not having patella luxation. Was he showing some symptoms for you to be worried about that?

[thegirlsallgrowedupnow]

The shower over the bath is a fixed head one, walk in shower is a flexible hose. Need one of those rubber showers you used to fix to the taps.
I never used to have any qualms about hosing down my Labrador in any weather and our last dog was a real gent and never rolled in anything, far too much dignity🙄 This one is a different kettle of fish, the poodle part is very sensitive and would not take kindly to a hose, the spaniel/lab/collie part gives her a gung-ho edge on walks but likes to disappear when faced with personal care😁

Good news about the vet costs Avocados , you must be feeling like he is properly your dog more and more now.

[BiteyShark]

I have no idea how I would be able to contain BiteyDog outside with the hose pipe. I know even on lead he would go crazy whereas in the bath he accepts he is 'trapped' .

Getting a shower attachment for the taps would be a quick fix thegirlsallgrowedupnow. I like the fact that for less muddy days I can just hose down the legs and belly very quickly with mine so it doesn't feel too onerous task.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Bit of a relief indeed! Turns out his back leg hopping was just the Jack Russell Hop and a muscular thing that's nothing to worry about.

There's nothing like a vets bill to remind you that this definitely is my dog now!

[thegirlsallgrowedupnow]

Now a sulky dog, I did pull her hood back and tucked it round nicely but she pulled it back over her head. Now asleep and hopefully drying a bit quicker than usual in her gown.
Definetly went with trapping her in the bath and borrowed steppemums idea of warm rinsing water in buckets by the side of bath.

[steppemum]

Oh she is cute (although at first glance i missed the towel and thought she had wrinkles of furry skin, and was wondering what sort of dog she was!

I rinse steppedog with his harness on and I hold the handle on it. (having a grab handle was a top priority in chosing said harness)

When I had to bath him last week, the harness and collar were dripping in cow pat, so I had to take them off, and he is such a gentle sweetie that as long as my hand was on his back somewhere he stood and took it, then he slinked off for a good shake and let me get him and bring him back. head down, tail down, picture of misery, but he let me wash him.

He doesn't mind the hose, it is just too cold at the moment.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

Yesterday we heard that Alabama Rot cases have started to be reported within 20 miles of Epping Forest (in which I live). Deep dread. There is 80% fatality if your dog contracts it. The only thing you can apparently do to try to avoid it is to clean all woodland mud off your dog after walks. I'm trying to work out how to politely ask the dogwalker to add this to her duties after the walk she takes JoyfulDog for at lunchtimes. I hope the veterinary colleges are working hard to find a vaccination/cure but that could take a long time if even possible.

[BiteyShark]

mrsjoyful do you have somewhere where she can easily do it after the walk? If it isn't a lot of hassle for her she might not mind at all.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I've got an outside hose but the dog will run a million miles as she hates water (espec. cold) and can't blame her as I would die of shock too if it was me - it's not warm in my garden apart from the water temperature- I usually just have a bowl of warm water and a flannel and wipe her legs and tummy then towel dry but that's a bit of a hassle for the dogwalker (usual one would do it but her stand-in might not be so keen!).

[BiteyShark]

I guess it depends if she has to get other dogs to their homes straight afterwards as it might add too much time on (presuming yours goes on group walks and not individual ones)

[Wolfiefan]

I'm considering a watering can! There are cases to the N, S, E and W of us but none round here. Washing mud off may or may not help. Recent link to water I think
I can't believe it's been around for so many years and they don't know what it is or how to cure it.
I'm holding on to the fact that thousands of dogs are walked every day and there are very few cases of rot.

[BiteyShark]

Wolfiefan I had also read the same as being one of those things they 'think' helps but have no concrete evidence. I guess if you can easily do it then it can't hurt and it will help to keep the floors clean

I don't wash mud off unless he's dirty and I think daycare just towel him down.

[Wolfiefan]

I do rinse off mud as madam is massive and I would like to avoid having more mud inside than outside! Plus I still have a hire car after some idiot reversed into mine. They've said I can take the dog in it but I would like to avoid wrecking it!
Empty pop bottle filled with water and a towel.

[BiteyShark]

I had a nice dirty paw print in my shower a few weeks back and I thought his paws were clean

Hope your car gets fixed soon Wolfiefan.

[Wolfiefan]

She's not been properly clean for some time! Car was supposed to be ready by now. Hoping soon. She hates the hire car. Really hates it.

[mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork]

I suspect that washing the mud off only works if they don't have any broken skin already underneath the mud. I should think if they have scratches, open sores when the mud hits them it will enter their system pretty quickly. Watch out for those brambles..... But, Wolfiefan, yes - I, too, am hoping for the best as only a relative few of the thousands of dogs that walk, for instance, in the New Forest, seem to have contracted it.
My dog is walked as an individual dog with her walker so I'll certainly ask her if she'd clean her up - she can always finish the walk 10 mins early if she needs that time to clean the mud off (I pay her quite well, I think , now I've seen what some other people pay their walkers).

[BiteyShark]

mrsjoyful as she's walked individually then I can't see any reason why your dog walker can't as you say she can finish a few mins earlier if needed.

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

There's really no proven cause, no proven preventative and a statistically very low chance of getting it even if we were in an affected area.

I choose to be philosophical about it; the chances are probably the same of him turning out to have early onset cancer, drowning in the park pond or something, and I can't be worrying about those very low odds either.

[BiteyShark]

I can't even keep BiteyDog safe from things I can control 😭

Talking of which I think he has lost some bowel control tonight. Every time he got up from sitting on the floor he was leaving a small lump of poo. I only noticed when I came out of the toilet and found some poo then noticed it happening and then found all the other little piles .

DH is out tonight so not only have I been looking after him all day I have now just had to steam mop the floors . I need lots of

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Oh Bitey

You can't control this at all - you're doing everything that any good owner would do, and more. From what you've said BiteyDog has been in and out of the vet, followed all the instructions, you've been there to hold his paw and are looking after him as well as anyone could. Have some but please don't beat yourself up about this.

[BiteyShark]

Thanks Avocados, it just feels like one blow after another. We aren't going back to the vets again until Tuesday and that seems so far away right now so trying to keep him calm and safe right now just feels overwhelming. Can't wait for DH to get home so I can relax a little.

[Wolfiefan]

Oh Bitey poor you and him. Is he "loose"? Can you get anything from the vet in the meantime?